Tigers warn govt of 'war or peace' option

Norway's special peace envoy, Erik Solheim, was due here today to launch a renewed attempt to jumpstart the negotiations process that has been on hold since April last year, diplomats said.

They said Solheim's work was complicated by Tiger charges that the army provided sanctuary to a renegade Tiger commander to wage a covert war against them despite the ongoing truce that has been in place since February 2002.

The Tigers had warned that the "war or peace" option was with the government while security forces and the police have been finding bombs and jackets of the type used by suicide bombers left in the capital.

The defence ministry has ordered the stepping up of security in key state institutions amid fears of attacks, but the government has also been keen to play down threats of a Tiger strike.

The Tigers on Saturday boycotted a meeting to review the truce and sort out problems with the police and security forces in the island's troubled eastern province, the Scandinavian truce monitoring team said.

A spokeswoman for the truce monitors said the Tigers gave no reason for the pull-out but the guerrillas had told local residents last week that their action was to protest military backing to a breakaway leader known as Karuna.